Emotions: Friend or Foe?

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Friday, December 22, 2006

Our emotions are not our enemy. That is something I'm just learning. Instead of seeing my emotions as something that gets me into trouble, I now recognize that God gave me emotions to motivate me to action. When God's truth invades my mind, it is the emotional part of me that responds and causes me to act as God wants me to. However, if those three things are not working properly, then I get into trouble.

For example, what happens to this sequence when we never set our will to act? I tell you, this is a common failure point. Many times the problem is we are lazy, undisciplined or disorganized, and therefore we never do anything. Another reason is that we become jaded to truth. When we are continually exposed to truth without responding as we should, our emotions harden, we become callous and insensitive, and our will is frozen. That is one thing that frightens me, frankly. I just don't want to become so accustomed to the truth of Scripture or spiritual things that they never touch me emotionally.

So, my message to you is that emotions are not your problem. Emotions are gifts from God to lead us to do something. It is only when they are based on something less than the truth of God's Word, or when they are out of balance, or selfish, or dead, that we find our emotions become a problem. You don't need to get rid of those emotions; just channel them, by God's grace, so that they cause you to set your will and do what God wants you to do.

When our emotions are in right relationship with our will, as God intended them, they are marvelous tools in God's hand to move you and me to respond to God's truth the way we should. I hope you'll remember this sequence: When we are confronted with truth, we need to be moved by our emotions to set our will for action. Ask God to help you keep those in balance.

----
Thought to ponder:

"When we are continually exposed to truth without responding as we should, our emotions harden, we become callous and insensitive, and our will is frozen. That is one thing that frightens me, frankly. I just don't want to become so accustomed to the truth of Scripture or spiritual things that they never touch me emotionally."